Perseus/Chapter Two
The second chapter of GRANDMASTA's Perseus, published on the July 8, 2014. Last Chapter: Chapter One Next Chapter: Chapter Three Note Hello readers. I'd like to apologize for the long wait for this issue and it's overall quality. During the time between this and chapter one, I have gone over many major plot changes which effect chapter two as a whole. This issue has been rewritten many times, and in my opinion, is not one of my best works. I apologize and hope you enjoy. Chapter Two Laina is sitting with her back against the front door. She has a blank look across her face, and is staring into nothing. The corpses are gurgling and screaming, and feasting on Sebastian’s corpse. Only now when I look at Laina I can realise how much she actually cared for him. I thought that he was just a rebound boyfriend with no real feelings between the two, just some overly attractive guy who Laina threw herself at…but I was wrong. There was something there. Now that I think about it, Laina didn’t react this way when I told her I was leaving. Of course, I wasn’t dead…nor was I the one who ended things…but she didn’t care for me as much as she cared for Sebastian. I don’t know how I can deal with that thought. Maybe I over reacted about my ankle, because it’s getting better. I can walk quite fine and there’s only a minor amount of pain each step I take. It’s been a couple hours since Sebastian died, and Laina hasn’t moved, or said a word. I pace around my shitbox apartment, thinking of what to do next. What do I say to Laina? How do I get us out of here? Does Laina still care for me? Of course, I got an answer to the last question…which is no. Laina probably hates me even more than before since I caused her boyfriend’s death. This whole situation is fucked. I get up out of the dining chair and enter my bedroom, where I pull out another bag and start to pack. Again, I put some toiletries in there, some clothes, a couple painkillers and bandages, and grab some food. Whilst in the kitchen, I look over at Laina, who has fallen asleep. She always looked like an angel when she was sleeping, except this time, it looks like her wings have been torn off. I need to figure out what to say to Laina. I can’t just ask her ‘how she feels’ or state that I’m ‘sorry for Sebastian’. I feel like I’m being insensitive and not giving her the time she needs. Of course, she will never understand that I’m just looking out for her, and trying to help her. I spot a guitar from across the room, next to the TV that’s getting no reception. I pick it up, and carry it over to the kitchen which is right next to the front door. Laina is still sleeping. Back from my days in the band, Laina loved this song that we used to cover, called ‘For You I Will’. It was by some dude who never amounted to anything, and I could argue that I was more famous than him. It was just me singing and playing the guitar. I used to play it to Laina when we were by ourselves, or serenade her at a gig. She loved it. She loved me. What better way to say that I’m there for her by playing our song? I start to strum the opening chords, which gets a response from Laina. “Nick, don’t.” She says. She wasn’t sleeping to begin with, and was probably watching me this whole time. “Laina…I’m…” “You don’t have to say or do anything, Nick. What happened, happened. You’re not to blame, and I don’t hold anything against you. I just need some time.” “Okay.” I say. I place the guitar down, get back up, and walk to the bathroom. I look out the window to my front porch and spot a couple corpses still eating Sebastian. There is blood everywhere, but not many corpses left. I decide to look around in my backyard to see if there is anything going on in my neighbours houses. I don’t know any of them besides one, William something, but it’s worth a shot. The entrance to my backyard is next to the TV, which is next to the dining table, which is next to the kitchen. I cannot stress enough how much I despise where I live, and still in this world that has gone to shit, I may be forced to reside here. The backyard isn’t anything better. It’s about 3 meters long, 8 meters wide, and only gives me room for a clothesline. I have three fences I can look over to see if my neighbours are still alive. The two to the side of my house look the same, but the house directly behind me, where that William guy used to live, looks like it has been looted or something. Some windows are smashed and there is garbage on his tiny patch of grass. Next to the clothesline is an empty esky, which I drag to William’s fence to hop over. Before I jump, I look back at Laina, who is sleeping again. William’s house is the same as mine. The backyard is, at least. Funnily enough it’s just a clothesline and an esky. I didn’t bring anything to guard myself with in case William has turned to one of them, so I pick up a cricket bat which I find on the grass. To my surprise, there is blood on it. It’s been used to kill one of those things, definitely. I approach his back door and get on my knees, in an attempt to crawl through the broken glass. I poke my head through the glass on the door and see William. He is sitting on the couch with another woman, and they are stunned. Scared shitless. “Motherfucker what the hell is you doing just now?” William says. His house is the same layout as mine, so from his couch, without moving a foot, he can grab a meat cleaver from his kitchen bench and brandish it at me. “Thank god you’re alive!” I say, trying to sound positive. “Can you open the door?” “No mother fucker, get out my damn house!” William says. He jumps out of his seat, meat cleaver in hand, and swings at my head. I duck out in time, and fall flat on my ass on the pavement. William slams the door open and starts approaching me, as I crawl away, trying to back up. Suddenly, the woman comes out, and slaps William across the face. “Will, what the hell are you doing?” she asks. “Fucking hell, Libby. He could be another one of those damn looters! I’m not taking any chances!” “Will, I swear to god…you lay a finger on this man, I’m leaving.” Libby walks up to me and puts out a hand to help me out. She could tell that I was scared, the look on her face screamed compassion. “Uh…thanks” I say. William snatches the cricket bat out my hands and throws it back on the grass. “Now who the fuck are you?” he asks. “Nick. I’m your next door neighbour; we met one time when I moved in…” I say. William has a look of realisation across his face. “Oh fuck man, sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you like this, I know you’re a good guy.” William says. Libby rolls her eyes, and hits will on the arm. “See, you big dummy! He was a nice guy after all. God damn you got a temper…” she says “Look, man; you’re welcome to stay with me and my sister here. We got food and running water, anything you need. Heck, we could tear down the fence and use both our houses for shelter.” “Yeah, sounds good,” “Look, I’m also sorry about almost attacking you. I was hearing gunshots about an hour ago and I thought it was some damn looters that have been running around here. Bunch of guys in big black cloaks just taking everything…” “Yeah, those shots were from my house. I just lost someone I was staying with. A good guy.” “Shit, sorry to hear,” William says, whilst Libby places her hand on my shoulder. “Anyone else you staying with?” I look back towards my house, then back at William. “Yeah, my ex. Her boyfriend was the one that just died, saving my sorry ass.” I say. “Oh, poor girl. She is also welcome to say with us.” Libby says. “Yeah about that…there is a bunch of corpses near my front door. I don’t think it’s safe there. Do you guys mind helping me bring her here?” “Sure. Will, lead the way.” Libby pushes her brother forward towards my fence. He picks up the cricket bat from before, and starts smashing down the brittle wood planks that are separating our houses to create an easy walking path. William is a short and stocky man, dark skinned. Probably African or something. It’s very uncommon to see an African person in Australia, let alone Hobart. Thank god I’m with him, because he seems capable enough. His sister on the other hand is absolutely stunning. Her eyes are big, and she’s simply gorgeous. She definitely caught my eye when I first saw her. “Alright, let’s go.” William says as he disposes of the last plank in our way. I walk through the gap first, and approach the back door quickly as it’s only a few steps away. I slide it open, and see a bloody Laina slumped against the front door. “Holy shit! Laina!” I scream, as I run up to her and pick her up. She slit her right wrist. There is a bloody kitchen knife on the floor, and she is bleeding intensely. “Grab me some bandages,” I say to Libby. “In that brown backpack on the counter!” Libby rushes over to the bag, opens it up, and starts cleaning up the wound. Laina starts moaning. She’s alive. William is in the distance, looking on in shock. I heard him mutter something, and I think it was along the lines of ‘damn, white people’. “Just let me go, Nick. Let me go.” Laina says, as Libby and I try as hard as we can to fix her up. “No Laina, I’m not letting you go again. Not after what it did to me last time. I need you, Laina…I need you more than fucking ever!” Laina’s big green eyes look up at me. She’s tearing up. Suddenly, the sound of corpses is getting louder. Those ones outside can hear my screaming, and they begin to bang against the front door. “Shit!” I say, as I drag Laina away to the dining table area, and slump her against the kitchen bench. William tries to barricade the door with his body. Since William has the same house layout as mine, he asks Libby to ‘check the bathroom window!’ I see Libby enter the bathroom, hear glass shattering, then William screaming. “NO! WILL, HELP ME! HELP!” Libby screams, as a corpse smashes open the bathroom window and grabs her. William attempts to let go of the door, but the force of another corpse forces him to push back. I jump up away from Laina, and look over at the bathroom. Libby has been dragged through the window. “Oh, FUCK!” William screams, as he comes to the realisation that his sister has died. I rush back to the dining table and grab a chair. I then go back to the front door and hook it under the handle, and lock the door, hopefully preventing the corpse’s entry. I should’ve done that to begin with, but I was too busy thinking about Laina. I then look at William, who has the same facial expression as Laina did right after Sebastian died. Just blank. I grab him by the arm and push him out the back door, and signal him to go back to his house. “No, fuck you, man! I’m going back for her!” He says. Will grabs me by my shirts collar and flings me against the wall. I hit my head against the dry wall, making a hole. I decide to forget about William, and let him do his own thing. I need to focus on saving Laina. I pick Laina up, who hugs me in return, and carry her to William’s house. She kisses me on the cheek. I quickly jog through our backyards, and slide open his back door with my foot. I’m a fairly flexible guy. I sit Laina up on the couch, kiss her on the cheek, and wipe the hair off her face. “Sit right here, Lil. I’ll be right back.” Lil is a little nickname I gave her. She calls me dipshit in return. I go back into Will’s backyard, and see him walking through the gap in his fence. He picks up the cricket bat, and smashes it against the ground repeatedly. He runs out of strength and his legs give way. He starts crying. The look on his face is horrid, like I was watching someone rip open his flesh and eat his heart out. Credits *Nick *Laina *William Davids *Libby Davids Deaths *Libby Davids Category:Masta Category:Perseus Category:Issues